09/02/2018 World News Today

This is BBC World News Today.

I'm Kasia Madera.

Our top stories:

North and South Korean competitors

march together in the opening

ceremony for the Olympic Games.

But the harmony among

the athletes was not always

matched in the stands,

where the US Vice-President snubbed

the North Korean delegation.

Relatives of the victims of two

members of an Islamic State

execution cell, demand

that they face trial.

The pair were captured

by Syrian Kurdish forces.

If it goes to trial, I will

certainly be there. I certainly want

to look them in the eye and let them

know I am who I am and they have

destroyed a big part of my life.

Uber agrees to pay Waymo

245 million dollars in stock,

to settle accusations it

stole trade secrets.

The EU's chief negotiator

warns the UK to face up

to the potential consequences

of Brexit for Northern Ireland.

Eight UK decision to leave the

single market and leave the customs

union would make border shakes

unavoidable.

And Paris the Eiffel

Tower for the second time this week

as another blanket of snow covers

French capital.

Hello and welcome

to World News Today.

Athletes from North and South Korea

have marched together

at the opening ceremony

of the Winter Olympics

in PyeongChang.

Cheered on by spectators, they

paraded behind the blue-and-white

Korean unification flag.

Some athletes held up their phones.

Some almost danced along the route.

With the latest from PyeongChang,

here's the BBC's Stephen McDonell.

With the opening ceremony, comes

the start of the Winter Olympics.

After years of

preparation, this South

Korean mountain community has become

the centre of the world, at least

for the few weeks.

Freezing temperatures

and icy winds are

thought to have made this

the coldest games yet, but the

spectators who have flooded

into the town don't

seem overly concerned.

Just hours before the opening

ceremony was due to start, 45

Russian athletes and two coaches

who had been banned for doping lost

their appeal to participate.

Those Russians who are

allowed to compete

here will do so under

the Olympic flag, and

following any medals,

the

Olympic theme will be played.

But the real attention

here has been on

engagement between North

and South Koreans.

The joint women's hockey team

will play tomorrow against

Switzerland.

In front of a packed arena.

And yet, it is the political

engagement which has upstaged

everything else.

The North Korean leader's sister,

Kim Yo Jong, appears to have

stolen the show, as the first member

of her country's ruling dynasty to

have travelled to the South since

the end of Korean War hostilities.

Her every move is getting

wall-to-wall coverage.

She will dine with the South Korean

president, Moon Jae-in, tomorrow.

Something which seemed

impossible just weeks ago.

However, the United States

Vice President has

cautioned Seoul not to overly

reward PyeongChang.

Mike Pence invited Warmbier,

whose son died, after being held in

North Korean custody along

with him to PyeongChang.

And this will be one

of the images of these Games.

The US Vice President

and Kim Jong Un's sister

row apart in the stadium.

These Games are shaping up to be

nothing short of historic, and

they've barely begun.

Steven McDonald, BBC News

at the PyeongChang Olympics.

They are called the "the

Winter Games," but there

has still been a lot

of conversation about just how cold

it's going to be in PyeongChang.

The BBC's World Service Sports

Editor Ben Sutherland tells

us what to watch out

for when temperatures dip to almost

minus 20 Celsius.

There have been concerns

about how it might

affect the Games.

It makes the snow very

difficult for skiers, for

example, and it messes

with the bottom of the skis.

It is going to make the down

slope runs or things

like luge and bobsleigh,

it's going to make them

grippier, so it will be...

They will be less fast basically.

But, yeah, from tomorrow

we will start to see for the first

time this combined

Korean female hockey

team, ice hockey team,

and

they will be playing

against Switzerland.

Lots of excitement around them

in the build up to the Games.

They did have a practice match

against Sweden, which they

lost 3-1, but there is

so much interest on them,

particularly they have been

trying to get together

and integrate.

It's incredibly interesting,

actually, because there

is a real language barrier,

because with South Korea,

a lot of the words they use

when they are playing

are words they have

imported from English.

For example, the word to pass,

they just shout "Pass", but in

North Korea, they don't

have any of those words.

They just use Korean words,

so the coach, who is

Canadian, has had to come up

with a sort of English to Korean,

to North Korean dialect in order

that they

actually know what each other

is going to be doing on the ice.

Ben Sutherland reporting there.

Uber has settled

its courtroom battle

with self-driving car unit Waymo.

The legal dispute was over stolen

trade secrets relating

to self-driving technology.

As part of the settlement,

Uber has agreed to pay Waymo 0.34

As part of the settlement,

Uber has agreed to pay Waymo 0.34%

of its equity stake -

which works out to about

$245 million.

The BBC's North America

technology reporter Dave Lee joins

us now live from San Francisco.

It is an eye watering amount of

money, but if they had not settled,

it could potentially have been much

more.

It could. We were talking in

the region of more than $1 million

if all of these trade secrets had

been stolen, if the jury ruled that.

It is the crucial point that using

them was what Waymo was trying to

prove over the course of the trial.

There were a suggestion that the

reason the two companies came to

this is because it is mutually

beneficial. On EgyptAir's side, they

can move on and not have to worry

about this case going on and hearing

any more dirty laundry and on

Waymo's side they get an increased

stake in Uber. They can keep an high

on what Uber is doing in self

driving technology, which has really

been there more long. This is about

making sure, for Waymo that they

stay ahead in the race to bring self

driving cars and a self driving

fleet of taxis to our roads. That's

what they were trying to do from the

outset, slow down the progress of

Broad by accusing them of getting an

unfair advantage by stealing these

trade secrets. -- progress of Broad.

I don't think these trade secrets

were used, but a settlement like

this has benefits for both parties.

-- Uber. Not like what impact has it

had on both businesses? For Uber it

has been a distraction. He wrote a

letter to his employers and said he

regrets what happens although he was

not at the company at the time and

he apologised to staff for the big

distraction this caused, the people

working on that self driving team

have essentially had to put down

their tools because of this case and

only now can they start working on

it again. I think the immediate

impact in that case will be that

Uber can begin its work in self

driving again. Looking ahead, many

people predict that Royal Bank of

Scotland will become a public

company perhaps in 2019. -- Uber

will become a public company. They

have managed to put this behind

them, and the idea that they could

go public in 2019 becomes a lot more

likely than it was before.

Andy

Burnham at as always for bringing us

up to date.

President Trump has called

the departure of a former

White House aide accused of domestic

violence "very sad" -

and has wished him well.

Staff secretary Rob Porter resigned

following allegations

that he physically abused

his two ex-wives.

One ex-wife claims he gave her

a black eye, while another says

she had to file a restraining order.

Mr Porter denies the allegations.

Here's what the President

said a little earlier.

He did a very good job when he was

in the White House and we hope he

has a wonderful career,

and hopefully he will have a great

career ahead of him,

but it was very sad

when we heard about it,

and

certainly the is also very sad now.

He also, as you probably

know, he says he is

innocent, and I think

you

have to remember that.

He said very strongly

yesterday that he is

innocent, so you will have to talk

to him about that, but we absolutely

wish him well.

He did a very good job

when he was at the White House.

I'm now joined by Barbara Plett

Usher in Washington.

Before we talk about what Donald

Trump said, remind us of the

background to this case.

It started

with media report earlier this week

that said that this White House aide

Robert Porter had abused his two

ex-wives and the weight has defended

him at that point, but then it

photographed was published showing

one of those ex-wives with a black

eye and so the narrative changed and

the White House said it was taking

action against him and he resigned.

The whole question of what the White

House knew exactly and when its new

continues to bubble up, because the

timeline keeps changing,

particularly the role of the chief

of staff and communications director

who is said to be dating Mr Porter.

These are two people who are

supposed to bring order to the White

House and now they are embroiled in

this controversy.

We had the

president say this is very sad,

adding that he wishes him well. Is

he supporting and

it certainly

sounds that way. It sounds like he

is continuing to defend him, wishing

him well, rather than taking the

opportunity to stake a stand against

domestic violence, he says a member

that Mr Porter says he is innocent.

This is a pattern we have seen

before when certain people within

his orbit are accused of behaviour

rather than condemning the beaver,

he suggests that there might be two

sides to the story. I think there's

approach is told death. He is the

top law enforcement officer in the

country and he is not calling out

domestic violence, also giving the

current environment with the

campaign against sexual harassment

and abuse which is in the country at

the moment.

Thank you very much.

Let's take a look

at some of the other

stories making the news:

President Trump has signed

a new spending bill into law, ending

a brief US government shutdown.

Congress passed the legislation

after a midnight

deadline was missed.

Fiscal conservatives

had opposed the bill,

which included billions of dollars

in deficit increase.

Indian regulators

have fined Google more

than $21 million for

abusing its dominant

market position.

India's Competition Commission said

the search giant was indulging

in practices of search bias -

thereby harming its competitors

as well as users.

Researchers

at Edinburgh University have grown

human eggs in the laboratory

for the first time.

They say the breakthrough

is an opportunity to explore

how human eggs develop,

much of which remains

a mystery to science.

The hope is these findings

could lead to new ways

of preserving women's fertility.

The families of some

of the victims of two

British jihadists belonging

to the Islamic State group

and captured in Syria,

have called for them to face

justice in court.

Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee El

Sheikh were part of a team of four

British IS members whose British

accents earned them

the nickname "the Beatles."

US officials say the group are

accused of executing 27 hostages.

Our Home Affairs Correspondent

Daniel Sandford has more.

They became the most infamous

gang of foreign fighters

in the self-styled Islamic State,

callous torturers and public

executioners of hostages.

Jihadi John, his real name

Mohammed Emwazi, now dead.

Aine Davis, in prison in Turkey.

And the two men captured last

month, Alexanda Kotey

and El Shafee Elsheikh.

The two were detained

by American-backed

Syrian Kurd fighters.

Kotey, the Kurds said today,

was trying to escape into Turkey.

The gang are suspected

of beheading Alan Henning,

the driver and aid worker

from Eccles, and David Haines,

seen here in Croatia,

a former RAF engineer and long-time

aid worker from Perth.

This morning, his daughter, Bethany,

was finally contemplating

what punishment two of his suspected

killers should face.

They should die a long,

slow, painful death.

And I think quite a lot of people

will understand that,

that they shouldn't

be allowed to live.

But realistically, that's

not going to happen.

And I have to come

to terms with that.

And the best thing for them is to be

locked up and throw away the key.

They should never be

allowed back in society,

because they will just recruit

people and they will

just do this again.

And for the sake of her father,

if they end up in court,

she will go to watch.

If it goes to trial,

I will certainly be there,

I will certainly want to look them

in the eye and let them

know that I am who I am,

and they have destroyed a big part

of my life.

And hopefully there will be

some sort of justice.

Some of the gang's hostages

were freed, including

former French reporter,

Nicolas Henin.

He wants them to have

the fairest trial possible.

I would not be happy

if they were just sent

to Guantanamo Bay, because this

is denial of justice.

If we want justice, we need

to give them the trial

that would satisfy them,

but also the victims.

The British men detained last month

are El Shafee Elsheikh,

who arrived in Syria from Britain

in 2012, and Alexanda Kotey,

who left the UK on an aid

convoy to Gaza in 2009,

and also ended up in Syria.

Their gang is accused by the US

of beheading at least 27 hostages,

including Alan Henning,

David Haines and Americans

James Foley, Peter Kassig

and Steven Sotloff.

They are also accused

of water boarding, mock

executions, crucifixions

and electric shock torture.

Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee

Elsheikh grew up close to each other

in quite a small area of west

London, near to the A40 flyover.

It became infamous as

an IS recruiting ground.

As well as Mohammed Emwazi,

Jihadi John, some half a dozen other

men from these streets died fighting

for IS in either Syria or Iraq.

At El Shafee Elsheikh's house,

his parents, who had another

son killed in Syria,

asked the media to leave.

There's nothing we can say,

no comment whatsoever.

Please, please, let us be in peace.

Their son and Alexanda Kotey

have had their British

citizenship removed already.

Now a trial, possibly

in the United States,

seems the most likely outcome.

Daniel Sandford, BBC News.

The scale of suffering

in Syria has reached

unprecedented levels according

to the United Nations as a wave

of fresh bombardments continue

in rebel-held areas.

The UN Security Council

on Thursday failed to uphold

an appeal from aid officials

for a month-long ceasefire

to end what they describe

as an "extreme situation".

Officials say access to aid

is being blocked in crucial areas,

with an estimated 13 million people

in need across the country.

More than 240 civilians are thought

to have been killed in the besieged

area of Eastern Ghouta after five

straight days of bombing by Syrian

warplanes and artillery.

With me is

Panos Moumtzis assistant secretary

general of the United Nations

and the UN's regional

humanitarian coordinator for Syria.

An unprecedented scale of

devastation.

Hundreds of thousands

of people displaced and killed and

you are calling for a ceasefire?

Absolutely. The situation as early

quite extreme at the moment, between

Italy where we have seen a massive

displacement of more than 300,000

people just in the last few weeks

from southern Italy to the central

parts, but also BBC judgment where

over 400,000 people had been really

living under extreme situations. We

have war than 700 medical cases of

people. -- we have more than. We

haven't been able to bring

assistance for more than months. It

cannot continue. Enough is enough.

It is the time to think and act in a

way that the protection of civilians

is insured, women and children in

desperate situations receive

assistance and the injured are able

to come out.

Just last year, the UN

only got access to 27 of its quest

is to get access to opposition areas

by the Syrian Government. The UN is

failing miserably in terms of

getting a grip on this.

I would say

what Israeli happening at the

moment, there is a failure of

humanitarian dis- Pullman C. -- what

is really happening. More than 6

million people are displaced. It is

a very difficult situation. We are

able to help about 7.5 million

people every month. That is through

a regular programme. What we are

unable to do is really reach the

people in the most desperate need,

in besieged areas and hard to reach

areas. This is why we feel we are

raising her voice because really

something needs to change. We cannot

continue like this, not being able

to reach the most vulnerable in

Syria.

As you said, this has been

going on for years, you have had

time to raise your voice. You not

putting enough pressure on the

regime to drive humanitarian aid to

those who need it?

We are in contact

with the Government of Syria, every

single Government capital that we

can think of that can be of help to

help us to reach these people in

this situation. This is not

happening, this is not moving

further. Last year we reached about

a quarter of what we should have

done from within Syrian operations.

Since two months, this has come to a

complete halt and that cannot

continue any longer. It cannot be

business as usual. The reports,

pictures, images we're getting every

day I really quite dramatic. Health

facilities should not be targeted,

civilian facilities should not be

targeted.

How affective can you be

if you have Russia continuously

supporting Assad? What can you

genuinely do?

We always say that

humanitarian response cannot be a

solution what is actually a

political problem. We need the

political will, commitment, the

quantities of politicians and

governments to bring the pressures

that is an improvement to be bull

fights and situations. This huge and

conflict is not the way forward. We

need to take the medical places or

people whose lives are on the line.

It is desperate then needed. Thank

you for joining us.

Thank you.

The European Union's Chief

Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier,

has warned that a transition period

for the UK after it leaves the bloc

is not guaranteed -

unless what he called substantial

disagreements can be overcome.

Mr Barnier said these include

Britain not wanting to extend

permanent rights to EU nationals

who arrive in the country

during the transition,

and not wanting to follow

all European rules during that time.

Here's some of what he had to say.

Brexit is coming and time is running

short, just 13 months before Britain

is officially out of the European

Union, and today the EU had a sharp

warning, sort out key sticking

points or there will be no deal and

no transition. Britain's Brexit

Secretary met the EU chief

negotiator in Downing Street on

Monday. Friendly enough, but there

are just weeks to shoot things out.

Today in Brussels with the big EU

summit coming next month, Michel

Barnier had a blog message, in terms

easy to understand.

If these

agreements processed, the transition

is not a given.

So much to sort out

and talks are getting prickly. On

the rights of migrants arrive after

Brexit day,

will Brussels block trade if Britain

breaks EU rules?

The Brexit secretary

Colback discourteous.

Mr Barney disagreed.

TRANSLATION:

Throughout these

negotiations, my attitude has not

been in the least

discourteous or vindictive.

We have never wished

to punish the UK.

It is totally foreign

to my state of mind.

And how to leave the EU

without bringing back a

hard north-south Irish border?

Nobody wants that but...

It is important to tell the truth.

A UK decision to leave

the single market

and to leave the customs union would

make border checks unavoidable.

It is not just

a political problem at

this shoe shop in Northern Ireland.

These issues are men for walking,

on both sides of the border.

Customs and tariffs

could mean a business

like this running into trouble.

We need easy access

from the factory to

our shop floor.

If there is a hard border,

there will be hold-ups all

the way along that

we cannot predict.

Tonight, the Brexit secretary

is saying he is surprised

that Mr Barnier is not

clear that Britain

wants to go on trading

as

now during a transition.

The government is

hoping for compromise

in negotiations, but if there is no

transition deal next month,

ministers will have

to prepare Britain

and British business

for the

possibility of a cliff edge Brexit.

If there is a transition deal it is

on to deciding the ambitions for

Brexit, which divide Parliament,

Tory MPs and the Cabinet.

One day, one crisis after time.

The Eiffel Tower in Paris has

been shut for the second time this

week because of snow and black ice.

The French capital is covered

in a heavy blanket of snow that has

brought some parts of the transport

system to a halt.

But not everyone is complaining.

Here's our correspondent,

Hugh Schofield.

For the second time this

week, snowy weather

has blown into Paris

from

the west, setting off to good effect

for the tourists some of the most

popular landmarks.

The city was just getting

over the previous having

fall on Tuesday, that

caused some disruption

to transport on road and rail.

Parks were shut as freezing

temperatures overnight turned slush

to ice.

I love it.

I'm used to coming to

Paris when it's sunny.

I've never been here

when it has snowed before.

As a tourist, I don't

enjoy it, because lots of

stuff is closed, the metro lines are

closed, but it's beautiful, isn't

it?

You can't really not enjoy it.

TRANSLATION:

I think

that certain roads should have been

cleared quicker, but then

that is the weather,

nothing out of the ordinary.

I think we should look

at the positives.

Snow is actually quite beautiful.

At the airbase just west

of the capital, snowploughs

have been brought to clear the.

And one adventurous soul had a flaky

answer to the transport problem.

Now there is the skiing fan.

Hugh Schofield, BBC News, Paris.

Now here's one

thing you don't expect

to find in the post -

this two-month old tiger

cub, which had been packed

into a plastic container and mailed

to an address in Mexico.

The package was detected when a dog,

which was searching

for contraband, sniffed it out.

The cub was taken an animal

management centre,

and is reported to be "dehydrated

but otherwise well".

A reminder of our top story::

North and South Korea have marched

together under a single flag

at the opening ceremony

of the Pyongchang Winter Olympics.

Among the crowd were the most senior

North Korean officials to visit

the South in sixty years.

Don't forget you can get

in touch with me and some

of the team on Twitter -

I'm @BBCKasiaMadera.